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The House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year 2019 Interior and Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill by a vote of 25-20. Included in the bill are critical provisions for Idaho and provide relief from burdensome regulations, funding to prevent and suppress wildfires, and payments that help counties with large percentages of federal lands. The Interior bill includes a number of priorities championed by Simpson that benefit Idaho’s rural communities includeng farmers and ranchers and here to describe some of the critical legislation is Congressman Mike Simpson’s spokesperson, Nikki Wallace:, including:

• Full funding for Payments in Lieu of Taxes, which is $500 million for FY19 and $35 million above the President’s request;

• Full funding for wildfire suppression at the ten-year average of $3.9 billion for the Department of Interior and the Forest Service. Starting in FY20, the Forest Service will be able to treat wildfires like other natural disasters thanks to Congressman Simpson’s legislation included in the FY2018 Omnibus;

• $655 million for hazardous fuels management, a $30 million increase from FY18, which is vital to preventing catastrophic wildfires;

• Language that authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Secretary of the Army to withdraw the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule;

• Language that directs EPA, USDA, and DOE to establish clear policies that reflect the carbon neutrality of biomass;

• A decrease in EPA funding by $100 million and it specifically reduces the regulatory programs by $228 million and prioritizes funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan fund, which states and local governments use for water infrastructure projects;

• Funding for the Rural Water Technical Assistance program to help small communities provide safe and affordable drinking water;

• A $175 million increase for the National Park Service to help reduce the deferred maintenance backlog in the Park system. This is one of the largest increases NPS has received to address the $11.6 billion maintenance backlog. Congressman Simpson also introduced standalone legislation to address this issue;

• Language that prohibits a ban on issuing new closures of public lands to hunting and recreational shooting, except in the case of public safety;

• Funding for Native American communities to help improve infrastructure and health care needs.

• Language that directs the Bureau of Land Management to work with the State of Idaho regarding aquifer recharge;

• Language that directs the BLM to work with local stakeholders to address sediment buildup caused by recent years flooding.

Congressman Simpson also spoke against an amendment that would have eliminated the EPA’s ability to make the science used during the rulemaking process publicly available.

“The basis of science is that if you come to a conclusion, you should be able to verify the results,” said Simpson. “Without transparency on the science EPA is using to create some of these rules, we don’t know if they are justifiable in many cases. That is why I appreciate what the Administrator is trying to do by make science publicly available and also providing safeguards for confidential information such as medical records.”

Watch Simpson discuss science transparency at the EPA during the markup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Px2215PKiI